Anthem Inc., the nation’s second largest health-care provider, began informing the public Wednesday, Feb. 4, of a data breach compromising the information of about 80 million customers and employees.
“What we’ve seen in the past few years is that attackers have realized the economics of health-care data are very, very attractive,” said Lee Weiner, senior vice president at cybersecurity firm Rapid7, according to The Washington Post.
Among bits of data hackers were able to collect include Social Security numbers, street and email addresses, birth dates, and medical information numbers from both current and former customers. Experts say these are among the most lucrative and damaging types of stolen personal data, as they are not easily changeable and are important for financial, government and medical purposes.
“Anthem was the target of a very sophisticated external cyber attack…. Based on what we know now, there is no evidence that credit card or medical information, such as claims, test results or diagnostic codes were targeted or compromised,” said CEO Joseph Swedish in a letter to customers.
On Friday, Feb. 6, Anthem warned US customers about an email scam targeted toward former and current customers whose data is suspected to have been breached, according to Reuters. It said there is no evidence the scam is related to those behind the hack, and it wants customers to know it is not calling them regarding the breach nor is it requesting for credit card information or social security numbers.
Bloomberg reported that China is the suspected culprit behind the incident and that it did so for reasons beyond profit.
“The more information the Chinese have about large segments of the American population, the easier it is for them to penetrate our military and intelligence agencies,” said Joel Brenner, a former top US counterintelligence official, according to the Post. “They then have the health-care information, the fingerprints and the real names of an enormous set of people, many of whom are prime recruits for our intelligence services or our military or who are already in our military. It’s an enormous advantage in penetrating cover.”
Adam Meyers, vice president of intelligence at Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity firm based in Irvine, Calif., told Bloomberg that Chinese-sponsored hackers have obtained health and prescription drug records that could be used to generate profiles of potential spy targets.
“This goes well beyond trying to access health-care records,” Meyers told Bloomberg. said Adam. “If you have a rich database of proclivities, health concerns and other personal information, it looks, from a Chinese intelligence perspective, as a way to augment human collection.”
But China has previously said it doesn’t conduct espionage through hacking and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Bloomberg reported.
The Anthem hack follows a series of data breaches last year that affected companies including Target, Staples, Home Depot and JP Morgan Chase & Co.
A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the Post the intrusion occurred in December or earlier. Authorities said the breach was discovered in late January, with suspicious activity noted on Jan. 27 and the hack confirmed Jan. 29. The FBI commended the health care provider for its timely response to the issue.
“Anthem’s initial response in promptly notifying the FBI after observing suspicious network activity is a model for other companies and organizations facing similar circumstances,” the agency said, according to CNN. “Speed matters when notifying law enforcement of an intrusion.”
The company confirmed it did not encrypt data against such a hack.
“When the data is moved in and out of the warehouse it is encrypted. But when it sits in the warehouse it’s not encrypted,” Anthem spokeswoman Cindy Wakefield said, according to Reuters.
In August, Chinese hacked Social Security numbers and other data from more than 4 million patients of Community Health Systems, one of America’s largest for-profit hospital groups, the Post reported. Following the August incident, the FBI warned that the health care industry was being targeted by hackers.
“Health care records are the new credit cards,” said Ben Johnson, chief security strategist at cybersecurity firm Bit9 + Carbon Black, according to the Post. “If someone gets your credit card number, you cancel it. If you have HIV, and that gets out, there’s no getting that back.”
In response to the breach, Anthem has reset the passwords of its employees who have access to its higher-level data system, said Thomas Miller, the company’s chief information officer, according to The Wall Street Journal. It will also reach out to those whose information was contained in the affected database via letter and email. The insurer has also set up an informational website and will offer a credit-monitoring service to customers.
“Anthem’s own associates’ personal information – including my own – was accessed during this security breach,” Swedish wrote in a letter to customers. “We join you in your concern and frustration, and I assure you that we are working around the clock to do everything we can to further secure your data.”
(With reports from CNN, Bloomberg, Reuters, San Jose Mercury News, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend February 7-10, 2015 Sec. D pg.1)
